John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was taken by the Minister talking in her opening statement about those who remain unemployed, whether young or old. We are at a stage where the Minister rightly states there are jobs out there and it is more than merely equipping individuals. I accept that Deputy Regina Doherty is only the Minister for one Department and many of our solutions must be cross-departmental to be effective. There have been intergenerational unemployment and geographic unemployment black spots. More than merely supporting the individuals, a range of programmes across Government needs to be devised to lift those communities where there is long-term and intergenerational unemployment. What the Government is doing with the school meals is only one element. Recent reports show the outcomes of children attending a DEIS school still are some way behind those in non-DEIS schools. We have quite a considerable way to go to positively discriminate for those communities that are experiencing long-term intergenerational unemployment. While Deputy Regina Doherty has a role to play in it - I am not having a go at the Minister - it requires other Departments to work with her. Maybe we missed it previously. As an economy where there is almost at full employment, there is an opportunity to drive that and, for once and for all, as the opportunity is there, make the opportunity a reality for people to work and they break that cycle.